pareidolia
Sign in to savethumb|Satellite photograph of a mesa in the Cydonia region of Mars, often called the "[[Face on Mars" and cited as evidence of extraterrestrial habitation]]Pareidolia (; ) is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Pareidolia is a specific but common type of apophenia (the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things or ideas).
Article
24 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Link to other conditions
- Explanations
- Pareidolia and creative thinking
- Examples
- Mimetoliths
- Clouds
- Mars canals
- Lunar surface
- Projective tests
- Banknotes
- Literature
- Art
- Architecture
- Religion
- Computer vision
- {{Anchor|Speech}}Auditory
- Deliberate practical use
- Medical education, radiology images
- In popular culture
- Related phenomena
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|Satellite photograph of a mesa in the Cydonia region of Mars, often called the "[[Face on Mars" and cited as evidence of extraterrestrial habitation]]Pareidolia (; ) is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one detects an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none. Pareidolia is a specific but common type of apophenia (the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things or ideas).
Common examples include perceived images of animals, faces, or objects in cloud formations; seeing faces in inanimate objects; or lunar pareidolia like the Man in the Moon or the Moon rabbit. The concept of pareidolia may extend to include hidden messages in recorded music played in reverse or at higher- or lower-than-normal speeds, and hearing voices (mainly indistinct) or music in random noise, such as that produced by air conditioners or by fans. Face pareidolia has also been demonstrated in rhesus macaques.